Making proper cutout biscuits isn’t difficult, but the dough requires as little touching as possible: pretty much impossible if you’re baking with kids. That’s why I love drop biscuits. The kids aren’t temped to overwork the dough, but they still get to mix the ingredients together and help drop the biscuits on the tray. It took a few rounds before Virginia learned her lesson that unlike cake batter, there is nothing tasty about raw biscuit dough. Once baked, though, these biscuits are crisp on the outside and airy on the inside. They’re especially good slathered with

Ingredients

2cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1tablespoon baking powder

1/4teaspoon baking soda

1/2teaspoon fine sea salt

2teaspoons granulated natural cane sugar

6tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces

1 1/4cups buttermilk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC) with the rack adjusted to the upper middle position.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar to a deep bowl. Whisk to combine. Scatter the butter over the dry ingredients and rub together quickly with your fingertips, until it forms a sandy-looking texture with some pebble-sized pieces. Pour in the buttermilk and stir until it just comes together into a thick dough and there are no visible signs of flour. This step should only take a minute: be careful not to overmix the dough.

Drop by scant 1/4 -cupfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet—I use an ice cream scoop for this so they come out even in size and shape. Bake until golden on the bottoms and around the edges, 15 to 17 minutes. Serve hot.